US Reports First Omicron Death as Covid Strain Becomes Dominant

The US reported its first death due to the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus as the mutation has now become the dominant one in the country, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday.

An unvaccinated man in his 50s succumbed to the fast-spreading disease in Texas, according to a release from Harris County Public Health.

The case is the first known confirmed Omicron-related death in the United States, CNN and other US media outlets reported.

The data shows that Omicron is responsible for 73% of new Covid-19 cases in the country for the week ending on December 18.

The variant took the US by storm, mirroring many predictions made earlier in European countries. Omicron was only found in 12.6% of Covid-19 infections for the week ending December 11.

The strain is even more dominant in specific regions of the country, including the Pacific Northwest, the Southeast, the Great Lakes, and New England, where rates of Omicron cases clear 90%.

Omicron has taken over Delta, the previous dominant strain. Delta had been dominant for nearly six months.

“All of us have a date with omicron,” Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told The Associated Press. “If you’re going to interact with society, if you’re going to have any type of life, omicron will be something you encounter, and the best way you can encounter this is to be fully vaccinated.”

Lockdowns, travel restrictions due to spread

Now that Omicron has proved exactly how contagious it can be, countries all over the world are tightening measures to mitigate its spread.

In a measure that went into effect on Sunday, travelers to Greece must show a negative rapid test taken within 24 hours of their journey or a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of their trip, before entering the country.

France and Germany are among other European nations to issue travel restrictions and the Netherlands has imposed a strict lockdown over Christmas.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced late Saturday night that all non-essential businesses and services, like restaurants, museums, salons, and gyms, will be closed starting Sunday. They are expected to reopen on January 14. Schools will be closed until January 9.

Omicron equipped to evade the protection of vaccines

A preliminary study published last week indicates that Omicron causes milder disease but is more equipped to evade the protection of vaccines.

The study, which was conducted in South Africa by a private health insurance company, found that patients who tested positive for the omicron variant were hospitalized less often than patients who had other versions of Covid-19.

Although the study is only based on three weeks of data, it clearly indicates that vaccines are less capable of preventing breakthrough infections. Epidemiologists have stressed that waiting a few more weeks will provide a much stronger data pool, as Omicron has not become fully dominant yet and only a fraction of people with the variant have become sick enough to be hospitalized.